Ever wonder what it's like to walk through a PAX Expo Hall with Rym and Scott? In a lofty experiment, GeekNights livestreams from the Penny Arcade Expo Prime 2014. But, since they're no bandwidth in the expo hall, they actually just record it and upload it later. Let's Play the Expo Hall!

This is an experiment. The audio is clipped. The camerawork is shoddy. Raw and mostly unedited (long conversations, fighting crowds, going to the bathroom redacted for obvious reasons), this is a good sense of what it's actually like to deal with us two jerks at a convention. It's also a good representation of how we actually talk to eachother outside of the show.

It seems obvious that, when playing a game of skill, one attempts to win. Interestingly, this is often not the case, and even skilled gamers rarely analyze to any real depth the underlying mechanics and strategy of a given game. By deconstructing the games we play, you too can make them far less fun for yourself and beat the everliving hell out of your friends. We'll hit the theory pretty heavily, but also specific examples from games like Stratego, Settlers of Catan, and even Football.

How do I get into tabletop gaming? How do I talk about board games I like? How about the ones I hate? How do I find more I want to play? How do I avoid those that would waste my time? How do I preserve my hard earned dollars? Join this expert panel as they get into the details you need and want to know about board games – from how to talk like a board game enthusiast to criticize them and find a critic you like.

Why No One Will Game with YouPresented by GeekNights at PAX East 2014 on Friday at 1:00pm in the Badger Theatre.

In gaming forums around the world, variations of the same thread forever grace the front page: "Looking for a Gaming Group." Games are ubiquitous, barriers to entry are ever-lower, and the Internet (never mind conventions like PAX) provide what should be a sea of gamers ready and willing to play games with us. So why all the trouble? Why, in 2013, is it still so hard to form a gaming group? Why won't anyone play Air Hockey with me?

In exploring the "LFG" space, there are a myriad of issues which come to light. Skill gaps leave players stranded. Matchmaking systems hurt as much as they help. The longer tail of games available spreads niche audiences further into increasingly specific sub-sub-sub-genres. Play styles differ. (Indeed, in some groups it is impolite to spend more than ten seconds on one's turn, while in others spending less than ten MINUTES is the height of rudeness)!

Let's explore why it's so hard (or why it SEEMS to hard) to find people to play games!

Vincent Baker's Dogs in the Vineyard is an alternate history western role playing game centered around deeply religious frontier communities. Players are "God's Watchdogs" who move from settlement to settlement, well, settling disputes, as well as keeping the faith. Absolutely powerful within their communities, they are faced with difficult choices and drastic consequences.

Shock: Social Science Fiction is a role playing game about the "shocks" of future and culture. In a distant space opera, how to we interact? What issues matter (or don't)? Is it a world of sex, or a world of space battles? Distributed GMing. Multiple characters for every player. World building. Shock asks difficult questions. Designed by Joshua A.C. Newman.

Mouse Guard is a simple, elegant role playing system that easily tells the kinds of stories in the fantastic Mouse Guard comic. If you enjoy that comic, you will enjoy this rpg. If you haven't read that comic, you should probably start.

Mouse Guard involves turn taking, novel character creation, a mechanical cycle of seasons, and interesting character development. Challenges use a generic system that encourages clever storytelling and survival drama. It's a great game to play with children, but easily scratches an adult role playing itch.